Ousted Djokovic cools injury fears

Novak Djokovic cooled fears over his fitness after crashing out of the Madrid Open in the second round to rising Bulgarian star Grigor Dimitrov.

The world number one was beaten 6-7 7-6 3-6 by Dimitrov on the Spanish clay, with Djokovic taking a medical timeout during the second set due to ankle problem, which he confirmed had almost caused him to withdraw from the tournament.

Nothing really happened when I twisted the ankle during the match.

Novak Djokovic

However, Djokovic played down fears of any major damage, with the French Open starting later this month.

"Luckily for me, nothing really happened when I twisted the ankle during the match. It was a slight moment," the Serb said.

"I had good protection on my ankle. So, right now that is the only positive thing that I look into, is that I didn't injure my ankle worse before Rome and Paris."

Djokovic is 2.75 to win the French Open for the first time in his career, with Rafael Nadal 1.57 and Roger Federer 9.00.

Meanwhile, Andy Murray was made to work hard for his place in the third round as he needed two tie-breaks to defeat Florian Mayer 7-6 7-6.

Federer made a solid return to action after eight weeks away as he saw off Radek Stepanek 6-3 6-3 to ease through to round three.